A helmet is designed to protect the head of a user by absorbing impact force and protecting against penetration to reduce injury. The helmet helps absorb and distribute the impact force to reduce lacerations, contusions, skull fractures, and brain injuries. Although helmets can help decrease the impact to a user's head, other body parts of the user remain vulnerable during the impact, including the user's neck and spine. As a result, the impact force often flows from the head into the user's neck and spine, which can produce serious injuries such as herniated disks, fractured vertebrae, and crushing or severing of the spinal column, to name a few. In some instances, the duration of the impact can be very short, measured in milliseconds.